Last February, while researching historic homes at the Jane Sween Library in Rockville, I came across multiple newspaper articles from the 1970s and 1980s highlighting historic home tours that appear to have been frequent here in the Ag Reserve. Those articles, combined with numerous messages I’ve received expressing interest in exploring these historic properties, sparked inspiration to bring these home tours back to the area.
On Sunday, October 27, we held a historic property tour here in the Ag Reserve with the goal of this type of event being a relatively frequent occurrence moving forward. From the outset, it was clear that there is a lot of interest. The 40 tickets for the event sold out in about 45 minutes with all proceeds going to the Historic Medley District. To facilitate the movement of participants throughout the tour, Calleva was incredibly generous in providing a bus for our use.
After a short meeting at the Old Town Hall to go over the plan and lay out some ground rules, the group boarded the bus and headed out to the first stop. The Solomon Simpson Plantation was originally built in the late 1700s, with a larger home built in the late 1800s adjoining the original structure. The owners, Tom and Marie Rojas, have done an incredible job restoring the property. We had to leave the home after 30 minutes to move on, but it was clear that everyone would have been happy remaining with Tom and Marie at the property for the rest of the day.
The next stop was the Monocacy Cemetery, a site that most have driven past but few have actually ventured beyond the gates. Glenn Wallace, the cemetery’s historian, provided a historical overview of the grounds and highlighted the incredible work he’s done to catalogue and document the family trees of all individuals buried on the grounds. The group ended the stop here by walking to John Poole’s grave.
After leaving the cemetery, we headed down the road to the Aix La Chapelle estate, built by Dr. William Brewer in 1812. The amazing property includes the original doctor’s office right next to the main home that Dr. Brewer used to treat patients. The home’s interior has been incredibly restored and decorated by owners Joy and Jon Siegel. If you have a chance next summer, I highly recommend you head to Aix La Chapelle to pick peaches from their orchard and explore the property.
The group then travelled down Montevideo Road to Rocklands Farm. While most in the area have been to Rocklands to enjoy a glass of wine, very few have been inside the incredible home. Built by Benoni Allnutt in 1870, the home is possibly the finest example of the Italianate architectural style in the county. Janis Glenn, owner of the farm, walked the group through her home and even provided a complimentary glass of wine from their vineyard to all participants.
After loading back up on the bus, the group travelled a short distance further into the Seneca region of the Medley District to visit the Upton Darby house and newly refurbished Poole Store. The home, built in 1855, currently sits empty, but the county has done incredible work restoring the home with hopes of gaining tenants in the near future. Scott Whipple, one of the county’s supervisors at the site, provided an overview of the work being done on both the home and store, spending time to answer a number of restoration-related questions from the group.
The final stop on the tour was the East Oaks estate, a property on the National Register of Historic Landmarks, built in 1824 by Henry Young. The home looks much as it did when it was built and includes an incredible array of outbuildings on the property. Cindy Souza, the real estate agent representing the home, provided a tour of the home and led the group throughout the property to various outbuildings, to include the former slave quarters and an incredible barn – both of which participants were allowed to enter.
Although it was a long day, the participants all seemed to greatly enjoy the tour and it was unquestionably a huge success. Are you interested in being part of the next tour? Follow the Historic Ag Reserve Properties page on facebook, where more details will be provided soon!
